An Internal Conflict
by storm-aurora
Summary: From an old fic prompt: Blake and Whitley are getting married! But Hugh is in love with Whitley. What does Hugh do?


**A/N: From an old fic prompt: Blake and Whitley are getting married! But Hugh is in love with Whitley. What does Hugh do?**

"He did what?"

"He proposed to Whitley, and they're going to get married in three days," Leo repeats.

Hugh shakes his head. "That can't be right. Where'd you hear that?"

"I heard the girls gossiping about it in the hall," Leo says. "I wish I could be brave enough to propose to a girl like that…" he murmurs.

"They're twelve years old!" Hugh screeches. "You don't get married that young!"

Leo shrugs. "If you're really skeptical, you should go ask Blake. He'll know if he proposed to her or not."

"Fine, I will!"

Hugh storms out of their room and down the hall to Blake's. He bangs furiously on the door. "Blake!" he yells.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down," Blake's response is muffled by the door. "Don't break down my door." He opens the door and leans against the door frame. "Can I help you?"

"Leo says you proposed to Whitley," Hugh says accusingly.

"Yeah?" Blake says.

"And…she said yes."

"Yeah?"

"And…you're getting married in three days?"

"Yeah?"

Hugh blinks. "You're not denying it."

"Very perceptive," Blake notes.

"You…you didn't seriously propose to her, did you!?"

"I did," Blake says, looking daringly into Hugh's eyes.

"You're only twelve!" Hugh shouts. "You can't get married when you're twelve years old!"

Blake shrugs. "It's legal."

"So is jumping off a bridge," Hugh retorts. "You planning on doing that anytime soon?"

Blake strokes his chin thoughtfully. "I jumped off a building once," he says. "Does that count?"

"You…you what?"

Blake straightens up. "Well, if that's all, I'd like to get back to what I was doing," he says, starting to close the door.

"Wait!" Hugh puts his hand against the door.

"What?" Blake says, folding his arms.

"Why are you marrying Whitley?"

"Because I can," Blake replies. "She agreed to it, so there's nothing stopping me."

Hugh bites his lip. "And…if she changes her mind?"

"Then I guess the wedding would be off," Blake shrugs.

Hugh stares at the ground, thinking. "See you," Blake says, closing the door.

* * *

Hugh stands in front of the door to Whitley's room. He clenches his fist, steeling himself to knock. "They can't get married," he whispers to himself. With this resolve in mind, he knocks on Whitley's door.

She doesn't answer at first, so he knocks a second time. Nothing.

He's about to knock a third time when Whitley opens the door. "Yes?" she says softly, her blue-gray eyes wide. Hugh's heart flutters and the Butterfree return to his stomach, flittering about even more rapidly than before.

"I…uh, I needed to tell you something…" he stammers.

"What is it?" she asks, tilting her head a little.

"I, um…I really like you, Whitley…" Hugh says, gulping.

"H-huh?" Whitley says, her face turning pink. "You…you do?"

"Y-yeah…" Hugh says.

Whitley looks down. "I, uh…"

"I just thought…you might want to know…before…you know…" Hugh mutters.

"B-before what?"

Hugh looks up at her in surprise. "Um…three days from now?"

Whitley looks puzzled. "What about three days from now?"

Hugh blinks. "You…have no idea what I'm talking about?"

Whitley shakes her head. "No…"

Hugh scratches his chin thoughtfully. "That's…odd…" He turns to leave. "Er, I need to go ask Blake something. I'll see you around, Whitley…"

"W-wait…" Whitley says. "Before you go…" Hugh doesn't seem to hear her and he continues down the hallway. Desperately, she cries out, "I…I like you too, Hugh!"

Hugh freezes. He looks back over his shoulder and sees Whitley staring at him, blushing fiercely. She quickly ducks back into her room and closes the door. Hugh smiles a little.

"So you did it! Good work!"

"Huh?" Hugh turns around to see Blake and Leo standing behind him. They're both grinning widely.

"You confessed to Whitley," Blake says.

"Yeah, because – I can't let you marry her!" Hugh shouts.

Blake and Leo laugh. "He's not going to marry Whitley," Leo chuckles.

"What!?"

"It's so obvious that you're crushing on Whitley," Blake says, grinning.

"So me and Blake made up that story about him proposing to Whitley 'cause we figured that if you thought she was gonna get married, you'd man up and tell her you like her," Leo explains.

Hugh stares at them, dumbfounded. After a moment, he yells, "Are you serious?"

Blake pats Hugh on the back. "Well, it worked, didn't it? And it seems to me like you've just scored yourself a really cute girlfriend."


End file.
